12 Themes, Starring Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye!
by Sofipitch
Summary: Some things would never be decided. Everyone around them wondered if they would ever get together. They too asked themselves the same question. The 12 fic challenge with Roy and Riza. WIP
1. Theme 1: Ice

Title: Routine

Author: Sofipitch

Set + Theme: Set 2, theme 1: Ice

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing: Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye (Romantic), Elric bros

Rating: PG-13 (for Ed's colorful language)

Genre(s): mostly humor, general

Warning(s): language

Word Count: 1,017

Disclaimer/Claimer: Yeah, I grew up on a dairy farm and walk around in a cow suit. Totally.

Summary: Teasing Edward was going to be the highlight of his day till his date with Cydney.

* * *

Mustang could hear Edward even before he made it into the building. The boy was always so damn loud. He rested his chin on his palm and sighed. Today was not his day, he hoped teasing Fullmetal could relieve the stress of all the paperwork he had been doing. Twice his usual load!

The squeak of the door hinges alerted him that it was being opened. Mustang made a mental note to tell the janitor to oil the door. The squeaking it made every time someone entered and exited the room was going to give him a headache, and he really didn't want to be stuck in the building till midnight doing paperwork with a headache.

But maybe if he had a headache Hawkeye would take pity on him and give him a back rub. Then she might take his shirt off, and then she would sit in his lap and straddle his hips as he slowly-

"Mustang." Roy's eyes shot open at the sight of the Lieutenant in the door way.

"Yes Hawkeye?" He had a hard time looking at her, with what had been playing in his mind was still fresh in his thoughts. It seemed she had the amazing power of being able to read his mind, so he preferred not allowing her to look at him and see what he had been picturing.

"The Elric brothers are here sir." Her eyes flickered from him to the hallway. Telling him they were on the stairs coming up. He could hear Alphonse's armor and Edward's automail screeching. He hoped Edward's mechanic would be fixing that if Edward was staying in East City. The noise up close would be quite ear-piercing and annoying to listen to all day.

"I could hear then from outside, tell Fullmetal too-"

Edward practically flew into the room nearly pushing Hawkeye over and Alphonse ducked into the room after him, excusing his brother's bad manners as Hawkeye just nodded, saying it was alright. Mustang thought it was more along the lines that she was already used to it.

Edward dropped a stack of papers on Mustang's desk. "There. _Done_."

Mustang picked up the stack and thumbed through it. "What are these Fullmetal?"

"Why don't you try reading it to find out?" Edward sneered already trying to make his way out of the room. "Fullmetal, you can't leave till your superior has dismissed you." He stopped hunched his shoulders and turned back around on the balls of his feet. "_If he keeps making that face it__'s going to get stuck that way."_Roy thought as Edward turned around.

"I'll ask again, what are these?" Edward's lip curled in disgust at being held back.

"It's the documents and paperwork on our trip in the city of Lior, sir." Alphonse Elric answered in the place of his rude older brother.

"Ah, yes I remember asking for these two weeks ago." He shot Edward a smile he knew would drive him over the edge. And as Mustang expected the young alchemist turned red and hissed at him from between his teeth. "I would'a had it done earlier if you hadn't sent us pack toward to that mining town run by that fucked-up, big headed, Lieutenant." Mustang frowned at Edward's choice of words that he used to describe the used-to-be Lieutenant Yoki.

Between the hustle and bustle of Eastern Command's halls Roy could faintly hear a phone ringing. Then he heard a woman's heels clicking against the linoleum flooring as they approached the door. The Elrics as well as Hawkeye turned when the door opened. A short woman with dark black hair smiled and told the Lieutenant there was a call for her.

Riza turned to Roy, asking her superior for permission, and turned and left when he nodded.

Roy turned his attention back to the blonde boy in front of him. "Now, Edward. What would that pretty girlfriend of yours from Risenbool say if she heard you talking like that?"

He barely missed Alphonse mutter, "She'd probably hit him with her wrench", before Edward's automail started screeching at the same time that he did that she was just his mechanic and not his girlfriend.

"Ah, yes," Mustang gave Edward an evil smirk, "You haven't had the balls to confess to her your feelings."

His subordinate's face lit bright red in embarrassment and fury. "I don't have any feelings to confess to a grubby mechanic like her! And either way, it's not like you've done any better breaking the ice between you and Hawkeye!"

"My current relationship with Hawkeye is none of your business." Roy turned to Alphonse trying to seek refuge, but the younger brother seemed to be enjoying the current situation.

"You know if you want, I could ask Major Armstrong to teach you two how to confess you feelings to a girl. I'm sure he'd be more than enthusiastic to help." Edward jaw seemed to hit the floor and he turned and started to direct his fury at his brother, who Roy was sure that if the boy had a flesh body, he would be grinning wickedly at the two of them.

"A much as I'd love to hear about courting techniques that have been passed down the Armstrong line for generations, I think I can handle myself just fine considering it is against military regulation for two officers to be in a relationship." Roy countered coolly. Even without facial expression he could feel the younger Elrics illusions drop from where he was sitting.

"But," Roy intend to keep playing with Edward, for it was basically the most fun he would have till his date with Cydney tonight, "That doesn't give Edward an excuse not to hook up with his mechanic."

"I TOLD YOU! SHE'S JUST A FRIEND!"

Roy laughed but on the inside he wished he could say even that simple phrase about Hawkeye. It beat saying she was his subordinate every time she needed to be introduced.

Oh well, might he as well entertain himself with Edward to put the thought of what he wished could be, out of his mind.


	2. Theme 2: Delusion

Title: Summer Beach House

Author: Sofipitch

Set + Theme: Set 2, Theme 2: Delusion

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing/Character/Threesome: Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, Romantic

Rating: PG

Genre(s): Humor, Fluff?

Warning(s): none

Word Count: 549

Disclaimer/Claimer: Nope, cow suits make me look fat.

Summary: He had to have been to delusional to think she would say yes.

A/N: I was going to submit this into an anime fanfic contest for the prompt: summer, but I missed the deadline. *sigh*

When he had said it, he had just been kidding. It would have been wonderful if she had said yes, but he would've had to have been delusional to think she would accept. He asked Hawkeye if she would like to go to the summer beach house his aunt owned in Aerugo with him.

The implications of such question would've had most women squealing to go spend a summer alone at beach house in a different country with Roy Mustang. But Hawkeye didn't even blink. "I don't believe it would be proper for the two of us to go alone, if-"

"If you're going to the beach house, Gracia and I are coming too!" Maes "finished" Riza's sentence. Now, Maes was his best friend and he would have been fine with him and his girlfriend, but what Mustang did not appreciate was that in the process, Maes later invited practically all of Eastern Headquarters to come with them.

Although most officers rejected the offer, the only ones to agree being his own subordinates, now everyone knew what his vacation plans were and that his apartment would be empty and use it however they wished. Mustang didn't have anything that would be worth stealing in his apartment so he wasn't worried about that. What he could not shake was the idea of some of the younger military personnel using his apartment to take their dates saying that it is _their_ own apartment to have sex on his couch. Some may call it a preposterous idea and something stupid to worry about, but back when he was younger, he did just that the moment the opportunity arose. And now, the idea of some other youngster doing the same thing he had done to his victims disgusted him.

Mustang ended up spending the summer with only two women and five men. He was glad Riza did in fact end up coming, under the condition that everyone else was also coming (and probably to protect him if he did anything stupid), but he had wished for his trip to the beach with Riza could have been a little more private and intimate.

"We're your chaperones!" Maes had said with a smile once Roy had started whining.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Yes, because I'm a twenty-seven year old man that needs six people to accompany me to the beach if I'm bringing a single woman." He stared at Maes, challenging him to answer.

Maes just walked away, smiling, whistling some self-invented tune. Roy shook his head. "Freeloader."

"Is something wrong?" Riza came up behind him carrying a bag full of necessary belongings and her dog walking next to her.

He shook his head. "No, nothing, I'm perfectly fine."

Riza just nodded and kept walking towards the car. Roy felt like crying. Even at his obvious distress, she just walked away. She just right out walked away from him! Her hair swirling in the light breeze and her hips swishing back and-

Roy tried to stop himself. It was going to be a _long_ summer _if_ he kept thinking like that. It would be like torturing himself. Especially with Maes around, who won't be allowing him a moment alone with her.

Sometimes the urge to curse Maes' name was just too strong to pass up.


	3. Theme 3: Lust

**Title:** For A Long Time Now

**Author:** Sofipitch

**Set + Theme: **Set 2, theme 3: lust

**Fandom: **Fullmetal Alchemist

**Pairing(platonic or romantic)/Character/Threesome:** Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, Romantic

**Rating:** PG-13ish

**Genre(s):** romance

**Warning(s):** none

**Word Count:** 1,206

**Disclaimer/Claimer:** Why yes, I do dress up in a cow suit to do my research on alchemy and create mouthy brats that save the world. It's a family tradition.

**Summary:** They hadn't thought there was any attraction between them.

His first impression of her had been that she was a weird girl. She never spoke much, she had mannerisms that gave people the impression that she didn't want you to get too close to her, and she never seemed to take much enjoyment out of anything. Nor did she ever seem to need or want anything. It made her strange in his eyes; she was so much more different than the women that had raised him.

Because of the fact that he couldn't relate to her in any way, he kept his distance. He just never really bothered to get to know her. It wasn't until her father's death was he able to get to know her a little bit more. They could even have considered each other friends. It was only research though. They knew each other through alchemy, and she was helping him crack the code her father had engraved on her back. Yes, she was a female and he was male, and they just happened to be spending _some_ time with each other. But that didn't mean anything. There was no attraction between them, whatsoever.

-X-

They met again on the broken land of what was then—and to this day still is considered—Ishval. They became friends once again, and started talking. They talked more than they ever had before. They talked to keep the death and destruction as far away from their memories as possible, even as it slowly decayed their hearts. But it could've just been that Maes was there with them, whom always carried an optimistic attitude with him. The three of them, "the trio" as others liked to call them, became very good friends. Even then, both Roy and Riza still claimed that there was nothing else between the two of them but friendship.

One very hot night, Maes wasn't there. They went into Riza's tent, to avoid the disease carrying insects, and they continued talking. But at one point in the conversation they stopped talking, because they couldn't due to their lips having crushed together. They spent the rest of the night together, and no one bothered them.

Roy returned back to his and Maes' tent at sunrise. They decided that there might just be attraction between the two of them.

-X-

They never spoke of what happened between them. And when Riza was appointed his subordinate, Roy made sure to keep his distance. He would publicly flirt with her, but that was just a cover. If Roy Mustang- the man who had practically every woman in East City swooning- were working with a very attractive woman and just didn't try to flirt with her, it would defiantly give some people a reason to be suspicious of the two of them. Although Roy couldn't say that he didn't enjoy flirting with her or that he really didn't mean what he said to her sometimes; it was the best of covers.

Every once in a while Roy would find him staring at Riza. He found himself looking past all the layers of the military uniform and imagining the naked body he—and probably only he—had seen in that tent in Ishval. The only difference from then would be that the tattoo on her back wouldn't be completely visible due to the scars marring the inking. And sometimes while with other woman, he would pretend he wasn't. Instead of brown hair he would see blonde, brown eyes would replace green, and instead of a tiny petite figure there would be broad shoulders and muscled body. Eventually, these illusions were all Roy would see during his dates with all those other woman, accept for the occasional dates with one of the Madame's girls. But those don't qualify as dates anyways.

Roy was soon faced with the fact that he might just possibly be in love with Riza. All that was left to decide now was how she felt. Her feelings though, were always left unspoken, not because he was a wimp (or so he told himself) but because he didn't want to damage any friendship or partnership with a declaration of love. Things were awkward enough hunting down mythical creatures, he didn't want to include sexual awkwardness into the mix.

Whether it was upon frantic whim or annoyance of the situation presented, Roy one day decided that all of those dates with the other women were not enough for him. He grabbed Riza, not one drop of common sense having processed itself through his mind, and kissed her. Riza would later claim that her reaction-returning the kiss and running her hand through his dark hair-was just some odd muscle spasm. Roy later would claim that it had been something that had needed to happen a very long time ago.

They were lucky no one had happened to walk in on them. They didn't know how long they were kissing; seconds, minutes, hours, days, it didn't matter. They just knew that they had needed it, ever since that night in Ishval and they had had the first teaser of what their lives could be like.

Riza was the first to break the connection between their lips. "We're not supposed to be doing this." It came out rushed, as she struggled slightly to regain her breath.

Roy smirked—nearly laughed. "Or this," he kissed her cheek, "or this," her lips, "or this," her jaw this time. He repeated his mantra over and over as he continuously kissed her face. Riza made no move to stop him, even though she had repeatedly told herself that she would not fall to any of the colonel's whims.

Riza grabbed Roy by the cheeks and pulled him away from her forehead and back down to her lips. They continued kissing each other passionately on the lips till they heard the softest echoing of footsteps right outside the door. They practically bounced away from each other.

The footsteps ended up being a false alarm, whoever they belonged to didn't end up coming into Mustang's office, just continued to make their way down the hall. They relaxed slightly.

"Not here. If we continue to do this, we won't do it here," Riza said. Roy nodded in agreement. That had been too close of a call for Roy's liking. They didn't want to actually be walked in on, not with the military's rules against fraternization, and not with their professional appearance at stake. And there was also the fact that it was late at night and not many other people were in the building, but if they got to use to being intimate with each other, they might end up doing or saying something that would reveal themselves to other military workers during the normal work hours.

But as Roy ran through all unfortunate possibilities that could end up happening and all the necessary precautions they were going to have to take, he realized the most important thing of all; she hadn't said no. Riza hadn't objected to being with him and was even coming up with ways to be able meet with him in secrecy.

_"Finally,"_ was the only thought that processed itself through his mind before he grabbed her and kissed Riza again.


	4. Theme 4: Weapon

Title: All Work and No Play

Author: Sofipitch

Set + Theme: Set 2, Theme 4: weapons

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing(platonic or romantic)/Character/Threesome: Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, Romantic

Rating: G

Genre(s): Romance/Friendship

Warning(s): none

Word Count: 1,418

Disclaimer/Claimer: Sadly, none of this fandom belongs to me.

Summary: She never stopped working and wasted time. Roy feels the need to change that.

A/N: Sorry, this a little late, but I've been sick with that terrible flu (Get yourself that flu shot!) and missed the deadline by a few days.

She was always working. He had yet to see her stop and play a game with friends, or read a book, or do something which could be considered non-productive. She was constantly working on either school work or cooking and cleaning around the house, since her father did neither of those chores. It wasn't until he realized that she didn't really have any friends to hang out with did he realize why she did not go out even when she appeared to have a little bit of free time.

Once when he did ask her to go out with him and some friends from school, she rejected the offer. When he asked her why she couldn't she said that she had _work_ to do, as if it couldn't wait for just one night. He pretended he didn't notice and shrugged saying that maybe she could another time. She gave an uneasy nod in response. But as he continued to offer to go out and as she continued rejecting the idea, Roy begins to notice the worried glances she would send classmates of hers way whenever he asked and the looks of malice being sent her way. They didn't want her around, and defiantly not near the hot-shot of their class.

When he realizes this he decides on two things: not to include or be around other people when asking her and to give her absolutely no choice.

He caught her just as she was leaving to go to the market to buy some food for dinner. He carried with him his weapons of choice in his pockets—pockets wide enough to carry many of them.

The baseball came closer to her than expected, but it didn't hit her. It bounced off the door frame behind her instead. She jumped when she heard the ball make contact with the wood; she made a sound that sounded to him like a yelp. Wow, another first for him.

Riza looked up at him in bewilderment. "What in the world?" Her voice sounded higher than it normally did. He couldn't help but feel a little pleased with her scared reaction. It was funny, and very different from her usual demeanor.

He gave her a lazy smile. "Come on, play with me." He pulled another baseball out of his pocket. "Catch?"

The shock began to erase itself from her face, but her voice didn't lose its high pitch. "Are you nuts?" Then she shook her head as if exasperated. "No, I can't play; I have to go to the market."

"There's a box of spaghetti in the pantry and a can of tomato sauce and some milk in the icebox. You can go tomorrow."

Her eyes narrowed, only by a little, but enough for him to know she was suspicious of what he was planning. What there was to be suspicious of, he had no idea, but adults never seemed to trust 'reckless youngsters' like him. Riza always acted like an adult herself. She stared him down before blowing out of her mouth in exasperation and rolling her eyes. She appeared tired. "Yes, but you don't understand—"

"There's nothing to understand, just play with me. You're always working, you need to stop and act your age. Play." He casually tossed the ball in his hand up in the air. "Just once."

She shifted her feet, surprisingly looking a little meek. "And if I don't know how to play your game?" She still hadn't agreed, and it seemed as if she were trying to make her situation more difficult for him, but Roy took her question as a yes.

He tossed the ball again, this time in triumph. "It's not really much of a game. It barely has any rules. It's just a game of 'catch', where you throw the ball back and forth between each other." He gave her a wry smile. "There's really nothing complicated about it."

"That's all?"

"You could talk to your opponent while you're at it. That's what most people do anyways."

She looked at the produce bag hanging balanced from her shoulder before setting it down at house's front door entrance's stone flooring and walking out onto the front lawn. "Fine. I'll play your game, but just for a little while, I have to begin cooking dinner soon."

Roy looked at her position and realized that she was standing, although slightly far away from, in front of a window. If he were to throw too hard and she weren't to catch it the ball could very easily break the window, and destroy his chances of ever doing something with her ever again. He gestured for her to move over to the right a little before moving in that direction himself to stay in alignment with her. Now, with only an unflinching brick wall behind her, he turned to his body sideways, taking a stance used by many pitchers in baseball to throw.

But before he could throw the ball, she asked him a silly, yet quite endearing question. "Do we need gloves to do this? Because the people I've seen playing this game have had gloves on."

_You need to get out of the house more_, was his first thought, but Roy thought such thing would be rude to say to someone who had asked an honest question. He didn't know her well enough to feel comfortable teasing her often yet. Sometimes, but not often; not as friends would. Not yet. "I don't have any. I hope you have a strong grip."

Roy could hear when the ball connected with her hand, which made him flinch, thinking he had hurt her. Riza though, didn't seem to have any reaction that expressed pain at all. She threw the ball back at him before he could even register that she was okay. He wasn't prepared for it, so when it came towards him he moved his head to the side and let it hit the grass behind him instead of his head. He stared at Riza, at the ball, then back at Riza.

He picked the ball back up. "Damn, some throw," he muttered quietly to himself. "Hey are you okay? The ball hit your hand pretty hard," he asked Riza, in normal, audible tone.

She looked confused. "I'm fine."

Shrugging, he threw again. She caught it beautifully and threw it back with perfect force and aim, although a little lower than before. The ball hit him square in the chest. "Umpf." He stumbled backwards but very luckily—luck which saved his ego-caught himself with one step extended backwards.

Riza let out a short gasp before running over in front of him. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Damn." He put a hand on his chest and rubbed, as if that would help reduce the pain. She was slightly shorter than him so he had to look down when looking at her. He smirked. "Either you're an amazingly fast pitcher or I need my eyesight checked. To save me the humiliation, I'll go with the later."

She gave him a blank look till realizing that the smile on his face indicated that he was joking with her. For the first time that he had ever seen, she smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment. And a sign that you're not hurt too badly."

He bent down and picked the ball up off the ground and moved to hand it to her. "C'mon, let's continue."

She didn't take the ball. "You want to continue?"

He gave her an indifferent look. "We only just started, and you just clarified that you didn't hurt me that _badly_." He backed up to where her standing point used to be, leaving her over at his. "And either way," the lopsided grin on his face seemed to hold evil intent, "I have to catch something you throw before I give up." He threw the ball her way.

She seemed to simply snatch it out of midair. She stared at the little white sphere in her hand before looking up at Roy. "You are a very strange person Mustang," she said before hurling the ball at him.

His fingertips grazed the ball but failed in capturing it. It continued sailing through the air till it hit the brick exterior wall of the house. He went over to pick it up. "So I've been told," he tossed the ball back at her with hopefully the same amount of force as she had been using, "and it's Roy."


	5. Theme 5: Time

Title: Tangled

Author: Sofipitch

Set + Theme: Set 2, Theme 5: Time

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing(platonic or romantic)/Character/Threesome: Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, Romantic

Rating: PG

Genre(s): Romance

Warning(s): None

Word Count: 2,388

Disclaimer/Claimer: I don't own Roy and Riza. Or Risenbool. Or Amestris. Only this sadly long list of things I can't have.

Summary: Their relationship was odd.

They had to spend the night in Risenbool. The next train wouldn't come till the next day and neither of them had felt the courage to intrude upon poor Misses Rockbell's hospitality. She had already been patient enough to listen to Mustang as he offered her something completely ludicrous. The kid was young. He seemed to have gone through a lot, a description she didn't want to even think of exaggerating when thinking of that poor twelve year old. But Mustang seemed confident that he hadn't just made himself out to be some senseless, irrational scientist from the big city to some humble country folk.

The inn they found to stay at oddly enough only had one room open for them to stay the night. Roy complained and wondered aloud how an inn in this small hick town could have only one room open. Riza simply stated that they were lucky there weren't none, for then they'd be sleeping outside or making their way back the Rockbell's. He gave an exasperated sigh and opened the door to their room.

The room was bare and simple. There was one bed; it had metal headboard with white paint chipping off of it, no footboard. The walls housed faded floral wall paper that would look to be white at first. The paper was peeling at the corners of the room. There was a thin but tall wooden dresser and a matching nightstand by the bed. The floorboards creaked as you walked. "Home sweet home," Mustang took off his overcoat and tossed it up onto the top of the dresser.

"It's no better than your house sir."

Agreement began to mold its way onto his face, but as he repeated her words in his head, he became confused. "And when were you at my house second lieutenant?"

"I had to drag you there after you had gotten drunk at party given by the Armstrong's, you do remember don't you?"

"I think I do recall something like that happening. 1909?"

"Yes, on May Day."

"Hmm", was all he had to say. It didn't appear as he could recall the incident very well.

It had been the only time she had ever been inside of his house.

Not having brought any other clothing or hygiene articles, they both undressed, getting rid of as many obnoxious layers and pins as they could, till they could undress in front of each other no further. It took only a second for Roy to look at the small bed before he simply laid down on one side, leaving her to rest on the other. She turned off the light before getting in the bed.

Their situation was odd. Riza felt as if they were very close—they had known each other for a long time—and there were things about him that probably only she knew, but at the same time there was a fine line in their relationship which neither of them never crossed nor mentioned: sexuality. He was a male, she was female. And they were friends. That's all there was to it.

Watching him flirt with other woman always caused a tightening in her chest she'd always rather not feel. She had established a long time ago that she loved him. And that was that. She couldn't take any further step forward than that. There was mutual understanding between him. He'd play down any differences between them, when she knew he wouldn't act the same around other women. Maybe it only hurt because she wanted to be his lover, but finding explanations to feelings didn't make them go away. Riza only felt herself longing more as she looked on to others.

Time wasn't on her side either. She had skipped the dignified marrying age, so any hopes of finding other love were probably ruined. It didn't really matter though; most all the men she was around were also from the military. She rarely ever saw any that weren't, so her chances of meeting someone and not running into the same problem she was having with Mustang (More of my problem than his, she thought.) were slim .

He was soon snoring softly next to her. Frogs croaked from the nearby pond and she felt herself lured to sleep by the sound. It reminded her of her father's house, and how things used to be before she and Roy joined the military. It seemed as if it had been a lot more peaceful then; she hadn't been around him long enough to get to know him, he was always studying or off with friends. If she could just shut her eyes and pretend, she was back in her own little bed, and he was just father's apprentice.

-X-

She was up before he was, so she took the liberty to go outside for a short walk, making sure not to go far enough to where he couldn't see her if he came outside searching for her.

Risenbool was green. Grass covered the majority of the landscape, and then there was a thick forest farther off to the southwest of the little town. In the distance, Riza could see someone's cotton field, an enormous expanse of white which from where she was standing, appeared as if never ended. Riza considered wandering farther off to find the pond—or lake, she wasn't quite sure—she had heard the frogs croaking last night, but decided that that would be too far and that the lieutenant colonel might not see her, so she just stayed walking around town, looking into a few of the little shops.

Roy woke up an estimated twenty minutes after she did. He went to look for her outside found her quicker than she would've have thought he would. When Roy saw her staring off to the countryside, he asked her what she was looking at. "The past," was all she could think to answer. He didn't appear the least bit confused with her response; he nodded as if he understood before asking her what she wanted to do about breakfast.

If last night had been a quiet affair, breakfast was anything but. Roy had always been more talkative during mornings, since he then had the most energy. Riza could remember him going on and on talking to her father in the mornings, sometimes about alchemy, sometimes not. Roy had always been trying desperately to break most of the formality between his teacher and himself. Roy told her once that he was already living in the man's house, so why should he be so intrapersonal. Riza didn't have an answer for his statement, for she was the same way around Roy herself. Roy admired her father, anyone could tell he wanted to impress the man and be more than just a teacher and a student. He was social, he wanted to be friends.

The restaurant was empty except for the two of them. Farmers probably didn't tend to eat out in the mornings, rather they ate what they had made themselves, and it was later in the day, after the usual designated breakfast time. The five other four-people seating tables in the place were empty. Their waitress left towards the kitchen to talk to the cooks.

He told her of his dreams and plans for the future. He had told her over and over again throughout their time together in the military that becoming a state alchemist only signified that he was talented enough to make it further. He planned to never stop until he himself was Furher. When he asked her what she wanted to do with herself, she said that she wanted to protect people, just as she always had wanted. He smiled brightly and gave her his praise.

He told her he'd hope to keep her at his side, since he needed protection, but at the position he was aiming for, he may be holding her back from protecting as many as she may have to potential too. If he did become Furher, she would have to be completely focused on him. She wouldn't have time to save anyone else. Riza just says, "We'll see," and takes a sip of her—now room temperature-coffee. She liked to believe that if he did manage to make it to the top, she will have protected, and will continue protecting, someone very important. And in turn, that important person will change the lives of millions for the better. Thus, making her existence as a part of the military important.

Roy would sometimes talk as if he were a nuisance to her, as if she could have gone farther and done more if she wasn't watching his back. They were only remarks, not long sermons, small sarcastic but still holding some kind of a weight in her heart. She knew he wasn't holding her back, she was where she wanted to be: by his side. She didn't have to be any closer or farther away from him to be happy.

She would never get the chance to tell him she loved him, but he understood, to some degree, that she cared for him, by her willingness to stay by his side. He may never understand to what extent she cared for him, he may always think that they were just good friends, but that didn't matter, for she knew that there were women and men all over the world who would never get to see the person they love the most again due to some unruly cause. She wasn't the only case of forbidden love in the world, and she shouldn't pity herself for she had the amenity of being seeing him most every day and being able to talk to him as openly and as often as she wished. She considered herself lucky; she was happy; she never looked down at herself and said, "Oh, you poor heart-broken little thing!"

After eating they had a few minutes to spare before they had to leave towards the train station, so they walked about the market place before leaving out northwards to a patch of thick vegetation, with a small little pond towards the center. Roy dipped his hand in the water and deemed it too cold to swim in, to which she answered that she had no such intention of doing so anyways. He chuckled, but held no other remark or contradiction. She tried to catch sight of the frogs she had listened to the night before, but to no avail. They walked a little farther, finding another little pond, before leaving the area.

They didn't go back to the market place, but rather cut across one of the main roads and took a direct route right towards the train station, walking through blades of grass that grew up all the way towards her knees and his shins. The walk was drudging, but peaceful. Only the wind whispered to them. They were left alone.

"It's nice, how quiet it is, isn't it?"

They could see people in the distance, farmers and laborers out working their fields, but no one else was around. And those who were out couldn't see them. "It is nice," Riza answered, "Risenbool is even more obscure than where my father lived."

"The people here seem so detached from the rest of the world and its rules and ideals. I wonder what that must be like, to just live the way you want too." Roy was looking upwards at the sky while he talked, watching the clouds just drift on through the small little town.

"Some were surprised to see the military officers. Some even whispered to each other suspiciously," Riza smiled when she talked. The military dominated the larger cities where she and Roy worked. It was hard to imagine people standing in such awe as seeing a pair of officers walking through town.

"Talk about detached," Roy said with a smile and a shake of his head.

They continued to walk in silence and had made it three quarters of the way to the station when Roy stopped in place. Riza, noticing his lack of motion, also stopped. She stood in front of him, questioning crossing her face.

"If they don't recognized the military, I wonder, if I did something completely irrational and absurd would they recognize it as a sin?" His face was a mask of urgency and Riza felt at loss with this sudden turn of events.

He didn't give her enough time to answer. He grasped her hand and kissed her cheek before kissing her hand. She didn't move; she was in such shock. He held her hand all the way to the train station, pulling her, as his pace was faster than hers. He didn't try to kiss her again, so she couldn't tell him to stop, and she couldn't find the power within herself to pull her hand out of his. Her eyes were wide during the entire walk.

He let go at the station only uttering two words as he did: "Thank you".

She didn't stop herself from asking, "For what sir?"

"For staying by my side."

As the train approached the wooden deck shook and Riza found her heart pounding along with it.

No one, not even the two of them, would fully understand their relationship. Their feelings couldn't be announced vocally, so neither of them understood how much they cared for each other. His kiss could've been a kiss between friends, or something more. Riza had hopes, but she didn't put her faith into them. She touched her cheek, where his lips had burned and a night between the two in Ishval came to mind. They had kissed then too. But that had been a long time ago, in a moment of desperation for human contact. She hadn't pondered on it too much. She didn't think it could've meant much.

She stood there, contemplating as the train pulled into the station. Roy tapped her shoulder to awaken her from her trance. "Come, let's get on."

He led the way, and she followed him. There weren't many words, but maybe, someday they would be able to reach a mutual understanding. But right now, things were odd and juvenile, and the simplicity of their moments together felt—in no other word better expressed—nice.


	6. Theme 6: Sick sickness

Title: Left Alone

Author: Sofipitch

Set + Theme: Set 2, Theme 3, sick; sickness

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing(platonic or romantic)/Character/Threesome: Roy/Riza, romantic

Rating: PG-13 (For the use of one, non-sexual f-bomb! )

Genre(s): General

Warning(s): see rating ^

Word Count: 627

Disclaimer/Claimer: Haha, you're too kind, but no…

Summary: He hadn't planned that she'd be out sick. Whoops.

A/N: This isn't very romantic, more something I could see an old couple doing to one another. (Since she probably planned her sick day, just too teach him a lesson.)

Riza Hawkeye was not usually late for work. Her delay raised some suspicion in Roy's mind as to where she was but for the most part he thought nothing important came of it. He himself had only been at work for fifteen minutes.

Today a large stack of untouched paperwork would be due by the time he walked out of the building in the evening. A large portion of the paperwork would deal with the murder, Scar's, attack against the Elric brothers only a few days ago. As Fullmetal's superior he would be doing what could probably be noted as the largest pile of reports as to what happened. The event had very tragically increased the size of his pile by, at the very least, a fourth.

Roy's wasn't very concerned about this though; he filled out his forms… leisurely. The lieutenant would come and—although she wouldn't do so till the demand became desperate—she'd help him fill out the documents. Hawkeye would only do those which only needed a looking over and a signature of approval. If she read anything that she believed he needed to know she'd dictate it to him, if not she would simply sign it. Over the years, she had learned to perfectly forge his signature. Usually when she came in in the morning she would claim that she would not, under any circumstance, help him. She would sit and watch him with a murderous glint in her eyes, but when she would see his lack of progress and the due date quickly approaching she would pick up a pen herself. By the end of the day, Roy knew he could always count on Riza.

Roy scribbled his signature at the bottom of the page he had been filling out. He placed the paper on the thin stack he had of those that he had finished. He looked up at the clock. Twenty minutes late. That's a bit weird.

Everyone who had been there to rescue the Elrics when Scar had attacked them mandatorily had to fill out a report as to what had happened. Thus, second lieutenants Havoc and Breda sat at the end of a good sized table that stretched outwards from Mustang's desk to the door doing just that. A cigarette dangled from Havoc's lips and Breda sat facing sideways making sure he didn't inhale the smoke.

"Did Lieutenant Hawkeye call in to report that she would be late?" Roy asked his subordinates.

Havoc gave a very informative, "Huh?" in response. Breda gave a little more help. "You didn't hear from the secretary as you came in? The lieutenant called in sick."

"No, she wasn't there…"

The information took a moment to sink in. If Hawkeye wasn't coming into work, then that meant she wouldn't be helping him finished his paperwork.

Well, fuck.

Roy's pace increased a ten-fold. "Once you guys finish that come here and help me."

"How we gonna help you, boss? We can't sign the papers for you," Breda replied. He kept his face down and in his work, but Mustang could see the beginning of a smirk pulling into his face. Havoc shook his head.

"Just read them out to me!"

Roy had really dug himself into a hole this time. He didn't have anyone who could forge his signature for him. He hadn't had a date set for the night, but he had planned on going home and sleeping to regain the hours of rest he had lost through the rest of the week full of turmoil Scar's appearance had created. Now, that plan didn't seem too possible.

"Why is it that when I need you most you can't be here," Roy muttered to himself a message intended for Riza once she returned.


	7. Theme 7: Gamble

Title: Illustrious Future

Author: Sofipitch

Set + Theme: Set 2, Theme 7: Gamble

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing(platonic or romantic)/Character/Threesome: Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye, Romantic

Rating: G

Genre(s): General really

Warning(s): None

Word Count: 389

Disclaimer/Claimer: When pigs fly.

Summary: She'll follow him, whether she actually meets him or not.

The Amestrian military is rather enormous. And Riza knew there was a chance that she would never see him, despite her enrollment. But a part of her kept faint hope that she would find him, follow him on his path to a better safer Amestris.

She wouldn't have ever believed that she would end up enrolling into the military if she had been told when she was younger. But after hearing Mr. Mustang's testimony as to why he want the code to flame alchemy, after countless night of him analyzing, a light in his eyes that couldn't be described with any word other than courageous, it enchanted her. Most woman swooned over Mustang for his looks and charm, but his heart and willingness to help people, that part of him is what Riza had come to love. So while applying for a job at the Central bank, a military enrollment poster caught her eyes and reminded her of him. And suddenly, it hit her like of wave: What was she doing to benefit other people and her country? Mustang's dreams of bettering the country with his own hands and will, suddenly it was something beautiful to her. So she stopped the applications and followed him.

She didn't really know what to look forward to, and a part of her knew the experience would bring sacrifice, but in a troubled country such as Amestris, moving forward would require determination. Hers brought on by a childhood crush, as she looked at the people around her filing in for the physical evaluation, she couldn't help but wonder what where their reason's and intentions for enrolling. War in the east? Lack of education? Family tradition? But each of them had a reason to lay their lives down, and for that she felt as if she were surrounded by a sea of heroes.

Maybe one day, Riza thought, she will do something that will make her father proud of his daughter and student. He'd have to take back his words of hate for the military, in acceptance for what they were to do. Riza hoped that even if she didn't, Mr. Mustang would be able to make the difference he dreamed of. And she would help him. Directly or indirectly, it didn't matter, as long as she was there, she was by his side.


End file.
